The IIHS Awards the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with a TSP Rating

With so many automobiles available in the market, consumers have a lot to choose from. Depending on the criteria a consumer may be judging a vehicle on – horsepower, style, or safety, to name a few – the car they ultimately buy may differ. Even with all the cool tech popping up in automobiles, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual assistants included, safety is still a large deciding factor when buying or leasing a new vehicle. That’s why there are organizations and publications out there like Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). In fact, the IIHS just awarded the all-new 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid with a TOP SAFETY PICK (TSP) rating for its safety.

“As the only mass-market plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to offer seating for seven and available DC fast charging, the Outlander Plug-in Hybrid is designed to provide protection for families…With an enviable suite of crash avoidance and safety features, as well as the sophisticated Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) system, this is a vehicle that blends safety and technology into one affordable package.” – Mark Chaffin, CEO of MMNA

The entire Mitsubishi Outlander family, including the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) variant, offer an assortment of automatic and advanced safety features. Driver assistance systems like MI-PILOT Assist takes some of the stress of cruise control on an ever-changing highway integrates Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and Traffic Sign Recognition to keep the vehicle at a safe speed and in the center of its lane. Depending on the trim level consumers choose for the Outlander PHEV, there are even more advanced safety features available, such as Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW), Blind Spot Warning (BSW), Lane Change Assist (LCA), Lane Departure Warning and Prevention (LDW & LDP), Rear Cross Traffic Alert, a Multiview Camera system, and more. Features like this are what can make or break the safety rating.

An independent, nonprofit organization, the IIHS is known in the industry for researching vehicles on the market and conducting evaluations that assess the safety of vehicles based on their crashworthiness and how they perform on crash-avoidance testing. With a little update to their usual regimen, the IIHS puts vehicles through numerous tests, including driver-side and passenger-side, small overlap frontal tests, and original moderate overlap frontal tests for crashworthiness crash evaluation. Always very strict, the IIHS awarded the TSP rating to 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV models made after May 2023, and depending on the trim level.

To receive a TSP rating, or better, vehicles need to earn a “Good” rating for each test, with a grading scale of “Poor”, “Marginal”, “Acceptable”, or “Good”. A TSP + is possible, but the Outlander PHEV received an “Acceptable” rating for the updated side-impact tests. The IIHS also looks at the advanced safety systems available, rating them as “Basic”, “Advanced”, or “Superior”. Since not all of the aforementioned safety features are standard on every trim, that’s the reasoning for the TSP rating.

Want to find a safe Mitsubishi Motors vehicle? Feel like helping the environment while you’re at it? Find the new 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV at University Mitsubishi in Davie, South Florida.

Photo Source/Copyright: Mitsubishi Media